Husband who robbed bank to escape wife sentenced to home confinement

A Kansas man who said he robbed a bank last year because he preferred jail over living with his wife saw his plan backfire when a judge sentenced him to house arrest.

According to the Kansas City Star, Lawrence John Ripple was sentenced six months of home confinement after the 71-year-old man expressed regret over the bank robbery and both his attorney and prosecutors asked a U.S. District Court Judge for leniency.

As Crime Online previously reported, Ripple pleaded guilty to the September bank robbery earlier this year. The day of the robbery, he told his wife what he was planning to do, telling her that he would rather goto prison than stay at home with her. He even wrote a note in front of his wife that he would later present to a bank teller, demanding money.

The note reportedly read: “I have a gun, give me money” — although Ripple was not in fact armed.

After the teller handed over nearly $3,000 cash, Ripple took a seat in the bank’s lobby waiting for police to arrive. When they did, Ripple told them he was the man they were looking for.

The Kansas City Star reports that at his sentencing on Tuesday, Ripple told the judge that he had been depressed at the time, having recently undergone heart surgery. His wife attending the sentencing hearing.

“I feel great now,” Ripple told the judge, explaining that he was on new medication. “I feel like my old self.”

Ripple was also sentenced to three years of probation, which includes 50 hours of community service.